After two years of functioning in a manner that is expected of it by the community it serves, the American Irish Historical Society has been plunged back into a crisis as a result of a high profile firing, and the resulting resignation of key board members.
The news that the AIHS has been rocked once more by internal discord broke on Tuesday night, this following the revelation that the Society's Executive Director, Elizabeth Stack, had been been effectively fired because her position had been eliminated.
It is understood that Stack had been subjected to a performance review that was highly critical, but the content of which was not accepted as valid by some board members.
The sidelining of Stack - a Kerry native who before being the AIHS Executive director served with the same title as head of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany - came just hours after she was honored by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Stack did not immediately release any statement, but three board members did just that as they simultaneously announced that they were quitting the society's governing board.
It is understood that more board members could well now follow the three out the front door of 991 Fifth Avenue, the Society's Gilded Age mansion home.
A statement released on behalf of the board members who resigned states in part: "Three members of the board of the beleaguered American Irish Historical Society resigned in protest on Tuesday, March 18, after the full board voted to eliminate the position of fulltime executive director.
"The current executive director, Dr. Elizabeth Stack, was honored for her contributions to Irish-American life by state Attorney General Letitia James just hours before the board voted to eliminate her position.
"Dr. Stack is the only employee of the Society."
The board members who resigned include Danny Leavy and Terry Golway.
They said said that the board’s decision was "a catastrophic setback for an organization that is struggling to put past discord and scandals behind it."
The name of the third board member to resign is being withheld as this person is expected to make a separate and expanded statement.
The statement attributed to all three continued: “Dr. Stack has done a remarkable job reviving an organization that was dormant for years. Just yesterday, on St. Patrick’s Day, many people told us that they have enjoyed the programming that Elizabeth has put together over the last year. Now, however, all of the programs she has organized in the coming months are likely to be cancelled because of the board’s unfair and short-sighted decision.”
Terry Golway, who served as interim executive director for several months before Dr. Stack’s arrival, said the board’s majority had committed institutional suicide.
“You can expect to see darkened windows at the Society’s headquarters on most nights in the coming months,” Golway said.
“Just when the Society seemed to be headed in the right direction, the board’s majority has decided to scale back in the name of economy.”
Dany Leavy, who has written and spoken on several Irish American historical topics, noted that with reduced emigration from Ireland, Dr. Stack’s efforts to tell the story of Irish America in new and refreshing ways was important.
“But now,” he said, “it appears that the board’s majority wants to restrict access to the stories the Society can tell. It’s back to the bad old days when the Society was elitist.”
According to the statement, the position of executive director will now become part-time.
“There is no way the Society can fulfill its mission with a part-time person,” the three former board members said.
“But we question whether the board’s majority, especially the board chairman, are interested in that mission.”
The statement noted that a fourth board member, Charles John O’Byrne, resigned several months ago after expressing dissatisfaction with the board’s direction.
It said that two other board members resigned several weeks after their appointment in late 2023.
"Of the original nine members appointed to the revived Society board in 2023, only four are left," the statement concluded.
